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Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (episode)
The crew of the Enterprise find themselves caught in the middle of an intractable conflict with a bizarre fugitive alien and his equally belligerant pursuer. Summary SUMMARY Background Information * The original story was by Barry Trivers, writer of "The Conscience of the King" and was called "Play (?) in Black and White." This outline concept did not have the aliens with bi-colored skin. * Stock footage from "The Galileo Seven" is used for all of the shuttlecraft shots. * This is the last episode of the series written by Gene L. Coon a.k.a. Lee Cronin. * This is the only episode in which we see the transporter room from the perspective of someone beaming down. * There is a nice scene in this episode in which Lokai pleads his case with the Enterprise crew. In the only instance in the series other than "Charlie X" and "The Tholian Web", the door to a room on a functioning starship is not fully closed (in "Charlie X" it was the recreation room, in "The Tholian Web" it was the chapel). The door here is only open a few inches. In a bizarre continuity error, although both Walter Koenig and George Takei are heard speaking lines of (dubbed) dialogue, Koenig is not in the room. * No other episode in the original series features such stunning close-ups of the Enterprise model. Beautiful zoom shots from below and above the saucer section are used. * The self-destruct sequence from this episode is repeated exactly in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. * This episode is a brilliant parable on the illogic of racial bigotry. * The late Frank Gorshin received a well-deserved Emmy nomination for his role as the devious and single-minded Bele. * Cheron, coincidentally, is rather close to the name of Pluto's moon (spelled "Charon"). The companion of our solar system's ninth planet was discovered in 1978. In Greek mythology, Charon was the ferryman who took the dead across the River Styx. * Bele's totally invisible ship is perhaps the biggest and most noticable budget cut in the original series. * Gorshin's costume in this episode is incredibly similar to the one he wore as the Riddler in "Batman." Coincidence? * In at least one syndicated version of Star Trek epsiodes, parts of the story have been edited out of three episodes. In this version of LTBYLB during the self destruct sequence the parts of Spock and Scotty are edited out. (The other two episodes are "Catspaw" (The part with the 3 witches confronting Kirk and Spock are cut out(although the end credits list the actress!!) & "Mirror, Mirror" the part where Kirk finds out about the Tantalus field-yet in this version the part is kept in where Kirk informs opposite Spock of an "Invincible weapon" (I.E. Tantalus field). Star Trek is not the only TV Series of syndicated editing: MASH had at least two episodes which were later synidcated with cuts from orginal episodes. Nitpicks * Although the stolen shuttlecraft belongs to Starbase 4 we can clearly read "NCC-1701/7" on its side. (Because the footage was lifted from "The Galileo Seven"). Memorable Quotes * "Change is the essential process of all existence." - Spock * "After so many years of leading the fight, you seem very much alive." - Kirk * "And at warp 10, we're going nowhere mighty fast!" - Scotty * "I once heard that on some of your planets, people believe they are descended from... apes." - said with contempt and distaste by Bele * "The actual theory is that all life-forms evolved from the lower levels to the more advanced stages." - Spock Links and References Regular Cast * William Shatner as Kirk * Leonard Nimoy as Spock * DeForest Kelley as McCoy * James Doohan as Scott * George Takei as Sulu * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura * Walter Koenig as Chekov * Majel Barrett as Chapel Guest Stars * Lou Antonio as Lokai * Frank Gorshin as Bele * William Blackburn as Hadley (uncredited) * Frank da Vinci as Brent (uncredited) * Roger Holloway as Roger Lemli (uncredited) References Ariannus; auto-destruct sequence; Cheron; Cheron native; Coalsack; Commission on Political Traitors; Starbase 4; stealth. Category:TOS episodes de:Bele jagt Lokai nl:Let That Be Your Last Battlefield